Various drabbles
by Lenidrabbles
Summary: Characters I've written only once or twice.
1. Little Bads three on the steps

_AN1: A long time ago I saw a picture which depicted a big door and enormous steps before it. Lots of people/others sat/stood/played/knelt/fought on them. Over the doors it read 'Welcome to Hell'_

**Surprise Meetings**

"Why are you here?" Cordelia asked conversationally.

"A misunderstanding," Tara shrugged. "Seems my death triggered a near-Apocalypses. When I said Willow did it out of grief they wanted to file it against her. I told them not to." She sighed. "There's lots of paperwork to do. What about you?"

"I was bored," she answered simply. "Nothing to do in my body..."

Suddenly a guy appeared. "Miss Chase." He looked anxiously at her. "They are already in your room."

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "They won't notice if I'm not there." She patted the empty place beside her. "Sit and rest, Dennis."

**Little Bads**

"I only possessed her! Aren't children ours? Flesh of our flesh and blood o-" Mid-rant Catherine's eyes went round. "Ouch, doesn't it hurt?" she asked sympathetically.

"Not really." The brunette's head did another 180°. "Don't let those morons bother you, they never understand. I've been telling them it's my nature to do what I did. They still don't get it."

"Yeah, morons!" Catherine agreed. "What's her deal?" she whispered, motioning to the silent brunette sitting at Natalie's other side.

"She wants her glove back," she explained, "They still won't say where it is, will they, Gwendolyn?"

Ms. Post only nodded.

**No Talking To Yourself**

"Why does he get to be in demon form?" he complained, pointing to the vampire below them.

Silence.

"Sure, I was human for some centuries but, I did finish my Ascension! I deserve some acknowledgement!"

Silence.

"_I_, the genius who built Sunnydale, am denied the privilege to show my rightful form while he, petty Master who always hid in that Bat-Cave and couldn't _even_ drown the girl properly, shows his true face?"

Silence.

"Oh, please! Will you never talk to me again?"

Snyder kept silent, eyeing the Mayor hatefully. He wouldn't speak until he heard his apologies for eating him.


	2. Riley others' quotes

**Field Trip.**

"I'm feelin' that you're not in the field trip spirit here."

Riley glared, ignoring the light tone.

He had thought himself prepared. Photos had been perused, statistics analysed. And yet... Seeing this hole in the ground was perplexing. Recovering clues for whatever caused the destruction didn't help. 

After all, Sunnydale was the town he'd spent the most convoluted years of his life. Where he'd met-

"Are you worried about them?"

Riley shook his head. No, bad news travelled fast. No news reassured him that his old friends - acquaintances? - were well, or at least alive.

"Let's continue then."

Riley nodded and followed his wife into the Hellmouth which was no more.

_Quote1:  
Xander: **I'm feelin' that you're not in the field trip spirit here.**  
Buffy: Well, it would... It's nothing, I... We do the same zoo trip at  
my old school every year. Same old, same old.  
Xander: Buffy, this isn't just about looking at a bunch of animals.  
This is about not being in class!  
THE PACK_

**Happy Birthday, Will! **

"No, we can't."

Buffy glared. "Pardon me?"

Noticing his girlfriend's mood, Riley explained. "There's a dangerous Luith in this sector. Professor Walsh has ordered its destruction."

Her eyes held a warning when she spoke. "Riley, it's Willow's birthday and it's been _painful_ to watch her believe we've forgotten. Xander and I have planned this for weeks. Willow is my _best_ friend. Nothing is keeping me from the Bronze tonight!" Her hands tightened. "Not even such a big bastard."

Seconds later, there was a stake through the Luith's throat behind him.

Riley gaped.

"There." Buffy dusted her dress. "Now let's go. Xander promised to smuggle some mint-chip-cookie-dough-fudge ice cream."

_Quote2:  
Willow: Stop the coronation tonight, maybe. Keep you guys away from the  
Bronze?  
Cordelia: **Nothing is keeping me from the Bronze tonight!**  
Xander: Uh, can we just revel in your fabulous lack of priorities?  
Cordelia: If I'm not crowned tonight then, then Marcie's won! And that  
would be bad. She's evil, okay? Way eviler than me._  
OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND

**Merry White Christmas. **

"My calculations may not have been as far off as I thought."

For days Professor Walsh had been grumbling about 'strange signatures' but only tonight he'd been sent on a reconnaissance mission.

Riley sighed. The most interesting he'd seen was a couple of scrawny trees nobody had had the bad sense to buy.

Darn, it was Christmas. He should be on campus, partying with the guys.

Riley cursed Walsh's failing equipment.

Then the snow fell.

Snow in California? Weather wasn't the usual manifestation of abnormal forces but, he'd learned the hard way, anything could happen in Sunnydale. 

Running to the Initiative's headquarters, Riley wondered what could have triggered the occurrence this time.

_Quote3:  
Giles: We need to talk.  
Buffy: Buffy's not home. (tries to close the door)  
Giles: (pushes the door open and comes in) **My calculations may not have  
been as far off as I thought.** (holds up a newspaper)  
Buffy: (reads) 'Five Die in Van Accident'?  
NEVER KILL A BOY ON THE FIRST DATE_


	3. Mothers unconventional

**Solace.**

Little Tara was crying again.

She bit her lips, this wasn't supposed to be. She had always wanted a carefree and happy daughter, with laughter in her eyes.

She had taught Tara songs of the fairies and prayers of spring, eventually Tara learned some of her own. But her husband had discovered them, and afterwards nothing was the same.

Caressing her baby's hair, she spoke soft words of reassurance. _Daddy is wrong, of course you aren't a monster, just a little unconventional. Unconventional is good, don't you believe Mommy?_

As a smile teased Tara's mouth, she hugged her baby tighter.

**Bluebird. (Undiscovered).**

When Willow's best friends were two unruly boys instead of the Chase and Kendall girls, Sheila observed the trio carefully and resignedly decided that it could have been worse.

When the first B had arrived, Sheila forgave Willow because of Jesse's death. Then others followed, and Willow disappeared almost nightly. Sheila was disappointed.

When Willow ignored Sheila's prospects and chose a musician instead, Sheila rolled her eyes and deemed it teenage rebellion.

But when she discovered potions and magic books under Willow's bed, Sheila knew that things had moved far beyond the unconventional. 

This was dangerous.

Sheila wouldn't accept it.

**Flesh and Blood.**

On Dawn's first birthday, Hank bought lots of toys. He laughed with his little daughter as he knelt on the floor to play with her.

On her first schoolday Joyce cried, her last baby would be separated from her too. Hank hugged her tightly, and they had to laugh at the memory of Buffy taking Dawn's hand and swearing seriously to take care of her little sister.

Joyce knows consciously that Dawn isn't hers, but that doesn't matter. Her birth may have been unconventional, but there's too much love for Dawn to be less than her blood and her flesh.


	4. Willy

**Just Another Job.**  
Demons aren't necessarily evil. They are not even necessarily mean.

The Slayer can't really understand it. Funny, she has a vampire and a werewolf in her midst. But then, who can understand a woman?

She thinks I consort with demons because I like it. Maybe she thinks I'm evil too, who knows.

I'm not, but I don't really dislike demons either. Not more than your average human patron anyway.

They come to me because they want some fun. Because I'm the only one around who doesn't overprice the liquor just because they can't get it anywhere else.

Nothing but business.

**Business are Business.** (S2, _What's My Line_)  
I like Angel. Really, I do. He's helped once or twice to get rid of some undesirable Luiths. Back when he still used to come here for some drinks.

I wasn't mad when he stopped coming. Angel isn't the only one to desert the local bar because his honey doesn't approve.

This is purely business, you see. The bar doesn't make as much money as it should, what with all the repairs I always have to pay for and, well, I don't resent him but Angel is one of the main causes.

He's just... repaying his debts.

See? Only business.

**Bad News.**  
When I came here, L.A's demon-karaoke had closed. I tried following the trend but... those demons were peaceful, wanted a non-violence spell and all that. Didn't work. My wealthiest clients are the most aggressive. Call it bad karma. My rules or nothing, I said. Most accepted, not many places like their patrons green-skinned, you mind.

Now I'm celebrating my first year here. I'll take a vacation, I think, go down memory's lane a bit. Sunnydale was pretty when you forgot about the death toll.

What? No Sunnydale anymore?

Damn, that's a shame. Some good clients still lived there, you see...


	5. Jesse Episode Titles

**Teachers' Pet.**  
Xander and I were playing basket I first met her. She asked us to play along. I laughed, but Xander didn't. He only gave her the ball and told me that to be his friend I had to be Willow's too.

Later I discovered the advantage of her friendship. Teachers love her, and she loves us. Willow has stepped in and lied for us - for _me_ - a couple of times. She stutters and twiddles her fingers, but teachers always believe her.

She really loves us.

I understand why Xander chose a _girl_.

She's more than the eye meets.


	6. Joyce tarot

**Star**  
_Hope, Inspiration, Generosity, Serenity._

Joyce always made breakfast alone. It was her routine since her daughters went to school but were still too little to prepare their own.

By the time they were old enough, Joyce had discovered that breakfast was the only time they spent together and so she'd maintained it as a mother-daughters tradition.

Today she decided on oranges. Dawn liked them in tiny dices, Buffy was always too rushed to do more than drink the juice in one gulp.

She turned the coffee-maker on and buttered the toasts.

When breakfast finally was ready, Joyce woke up her daughters to join her.


	7. OC training

**Racing Against the Odds.**

The thrill of a race had always been in her blood. Sometimes Giselle imagined that she was running from Destiny.

It was the most logical conclusion.

She hadn't taken it up for her 'I wish I'd had a boy' father. Giselle wasn't the best just to prove herself in his eyes.

Giselle run because it fulfilled her.

Her trainers had always marvelled at her resistance, the agility that steadily grew as time went by.

That day, as she saw that redheaded woman in her living room and her father's pale face, Giselle suddenly understood that Destiny had finally caught her.

**A Promise That Binds.**

They had found Donna in a park, exactly where two months before she'd been crying over Melinda's body, swearing to take revenge.

Donna followed them willingly, but she never told them about her best friend; maybe because big words like 'Fate' and 'Mission' didn't fit with the overused 'wrong place, wrong time'.

But some things didn't stay away just because you left them.

Fuck Fate.

Forget Slayerhood. 

She could feel Melinda's ghost haunting her, watching as she trained with the other girls.

Just a little more, Donna thought as she hit the dummy mercilessly. Just wait until I'm strong enough.

**Not A Fairytale.**  
Alice was one of the few gifted with a home in the Council's vicinity. Her parents had moved, following their only daughter to this Wonderland.

Dinner talk had changed irrevocably since then. 

"How was training today?" her father asked.

Alice munched on her peas.

"Is Giselle better?" her mother peeped in next. "Mr. Rupert confided at the last meeting that a Luith's bite could be dangerous..."

Alice gulped down her tea.

As she tried to turn the dinner talk into something resembling normalcy, Alice understood that this was no Wonderland.

Somewhere along the line she'd stepped through the looking glass.


	8. Anya Tarot

**Lovers**  
_Relationship, Sexuality, Personal Beliefs, Values_

Anya had based her whole life in two primordial facts:

a) Bunnies were anything but cute.

b) Men were not to be trusted.

Men cheated and never cared about a woman's love. Men left and stepped on the heart they'd just broken without a second glance. Men took everything from a woman and never bothered to look back.

They weren't supposed to say 'I'm sorry' when they called you because they would be late.

They never cared when you were down with the first flu in a millennium.

And they certainly shouldn't leave freshly squeezed orange juice at your bedside.


	9. Justine punishment

**Broken**

When Wesley found her, she fought knowing she'd win. How could she lose against the prissy goody-two-shoes?

She was wrong.

He fought hard, he fought dirty, and when she woke up she was trapped in a tiny room.

At first she screamed and kicked and hit, demanding to be released. But now, weeks (months?) later, her throat hurts and her knuckles are too sore.

In the darkness, huddled in a corner, Justine wonders when he'll set her free. She doesn't _get_ what she's punished for, but she holds to one last fuzzy hope.

He can't keep her forever.

Can he?


	10. Owen

**An Emily Dickinson Girl.**

Pretty girl, she was. Many considered her a freak, but Owen thought it interesting, cute even. 

Buffy Summers wasn't like any other girl. He had seen her helping Jonathan up even when that was a big no-no at school. Pretty as she was, she should have a string of dates at her doorstep, yet he only saw her with Harris and it was obvious how platonic that was.

Pretty girl but alone, that was intriguing.

Owen finally decided to ask her out. He smiled for hours afterwards when he remembered her babbling and her easy blushes.

Indeed, pretty and cute.


	11. Scott Hope

**(he didn't notice) The Littlest Detail**

It was only a ring.

Scott had seen it at the mall and when the shopkeeper explained what it represented, he had thought it perfect. A simple but very significant gift to conquest her, how could she not like it?

But she didn't like it. Even worse, she was obviously terrified by it. Scott had irritably thought that he hadn't been proposing or anything of the sort, Buffy hadn't needed to act like that.

She came back later, with big pleading eyes, apologies about past relationships and an invitation to go out.

Scott decided he could forget about the ring.


	12. Kendra David Bowie's titles

**Where Have All The Good Times Gone.**

She run until she couldn't breath anymore. Behind her, Martha's calls sounded far away. She giggled, Martha was so slow!

Quickly hiding between the bushes under her window, she kept as silent as she could. No way would Martha win this hide-and-seek round.

"She'll be home soon," she heard. That was Dad.

"This is important." Who...?

Curiously, she lifted herself on her tip-toes until she could see the scene within. A man stood before her parents, Momma's hand was clutching Dad's. What...?

"Kendra!" Martha called again.

Remembering the game, four-year-old Kendra ducked out of sight, instantly forgetting the stranger's presence.


	13. Giles David Bowie's titles

For **whenitrained**:

**Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere**

Nearly thirty years later, Giles can't remember why or how it began.

He remembers that it wasn't drugs, because he never liked losing himself in the high. It wasn't the magic either, though its run through his veins was enough to believe himself invincible and eternal.

Maybe it was Ethan who kissed him first. Too confused to break apart, he hadn't. Later he'd been too content to even think about it.

He remembers skin on skin and words and spells...

But none of them explain why, nearly thirty years later, he wakes up to find Ethan in his bed again.


	14. Ben

**Son of Madness**

Ben shouldn't be here.

He should be running away instead. Even if his alter ego returned, he'd be far enough to give this girl time to prepare.

He should get rid of the Goddess forever. It'd be only a knife on his wrists, a step out from a very high window. He knew he could do it, that Glory had no chance of stopping him if he acted carefully.

But Ben stayed here, so close to the Slayer that he could hear how Glory planned to kill her.

The scary truth was that he wanted Buffy with the same intensity.


	15. First Slayer

The entire world is different, black and white where there used to be greys. No room for fear, no place for doubt. That's her new life. 

Hunting is no longer done for food or clothes. Not to protect. Not to save those beneath her. She hunts because it's the only thing that makes sense. That's her reason to exist. Earth, Magic and Spirit breathe within her, a holy trinity that keeps her apart from common humanity.

She cannot be a mere girl; her gender is only a label to be ignored. There's nothing beyond this new life.

The Slayer's life.


	16. Tara

**Beginning**

'Goodbye, may I never return,' Tara prays vehemently as she waves her father goodbye. She keeps her face straight, the triumphant smile can wait until her new life actually starts.

'Goodbye, may you stay here forever,' she thinks, nodding towards her brother and purposely ignoring his dark scowl. Tara hugs her bag tight, clutches her ticket in a fist. He can't stop her now. He can't.

The bus starts. She turns back to see her family for – hopefully! – the last time. Sunnydale waits for her, a future she can't even glimpse. But Tara isn't afraid.

'New life, here I come.'

**The Best Laid Plans**

Life is a journey full with surprises, her mother always said.

But Tara doesn't agree. She worked hard to escape her family. College applications and excruciatingly long, frustrating talks with her father. No, Tara has allowed no surprise in her careful plans.

Until she sees red hair and kind green eyes.

Until she hears a raspy voice that talks faster than she can follow.

Until she holds a smooth hand and reads her future in it.

Life may as well have jumped out of the bushes and yelled 'Boo!'. Tara is officially surprised. Love was never part of the plan.

**Observing**

Tara hates it when she stutters in front of Willow's friends. It's not her, not really. But everything about them amazes her to no end.

Xander laughs so easily, even if he's the object of the puns. Buffy protects them fiercely, asking for nothing but friendship in return. Giles never mocks the less erudite, instead patiently teaching them. They all accept the weirdness that is ex-demon Anya. They all accept _her_, this cursed McLay female.

Tara smiles and watches them quietly from a corner. When she chose this path, she never expected to find a real family on the way.


End file.
